Huge Thank You

Kourtney S. thank you so much for being a diligent student and letting me know that I had missed placing one of the review words on the vocabulary word list here on the blog. I truly appreciate the help :)
- Ms. Wright

Homework Special Announcement

The homework assignments for the next 2 weeks have been posted to the blog. You may work ahead if you should choose to do so (and I hope that you do!).

Homework 12/3

Here are the homework questions for 12/3. They are due 12/7 :)

1. Freewriting- Write whatever comes to mind in response to the word explore. Then, reread what you have written, and circle the most interesting idea.


2. Blueprinting- Think of places that are important to you, such as your house or a place you go to with friends. Draw a map of this place, marking different areas. For each location, list connected memories.

3. A Present That You Received- Think of a present you received that made you happy or proud or that disappointed you. Write about the occasion, the person who gave you the present, and your reaction to it (5-10 sentences).

Study for Unit 3 Vocab Test

Most of you did really well on the spelling portion of your Vocab Practice Test this past Monday. Which means that you only have to focus on doing just as well on the definition portion this Friday. Use your flashcards that you made to help study and if you need any extra hints on how to remember a word, whether its the spelling or definition, ask me before the test :)

Unit 3 extra credit words

I almost forgot! Here are the extra credit words for Unit 3- culminate, literate, miscellaneous, and unique. If you spell or match these words correctly on the test you receive extra credit points. If you don't spell or match these words correctly they do not count against you.

So far we've had 14 extra credit points available this quarter just through our vocabulary/spelling tests. Study and you may end up with extra points to help pull up your grade :)

Vocabulary Test Dates for Unit 3

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Your vocabulary/spelling test dates for unit 3 are the following: November 29th and December 3rd. Remember that the first date is the practice round and if you get any form of an A grade then you are not required to take it the second round. Another reminder is to pay attention to your homework because the sentences on the test will look oddly familiar if you do ;)

Have a safe Turkey week and I will endeavor to bring back lots of goodies from my conference.

Ms. Wright

Sentence Starters

One of our latest homework assignments was to complete the sentences that I gave you starts for concerning the "Most Dangerous Game". Here are the starters for those of you making up work.

1. When I started to read this story I thought...
2. I predict that...
3. So far my favorite part of the story was...

Parent Update Letter Coming Home

Just a heads up that a parent letter is coming home on Thursday, November 11th. This letter will also have a student report with all the details of what you've turned in and the grades you have received this quarter for ELA.

Homework Request Granted

One of your classmates asked very nicely and with great forethought if I would post the "Most Dangerous Game" questions, so here they are. If you get stuck, shoot me an email (jwright@ics-charter.org) or post a comment and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Please do not just throw down an answer without thinking through what the questions are really asking of you. Thanks :)

1. Consider Rainsford’s comments about hunters and prey at the beginning of the story. How do you suppose his experiences with Zaroff have affected his beliefs by this point in the story?


2. From time to time, an author will give a story a title that may be interpreted in more than one way. What are some ways that the title “The Most Dangerous Game” can be interpreted? How does each interpretation relate to the content of this story?

Apologies :( and Updates :)

My apologies on not updating the blog this past week :( But here are some great reminders and updates:
1. Reminder to get in your missing work by Monday in order to receive partial credit.
2. Update- progress reports go out November 17th. So keep up the good job that some of you are doing and others let's kick it into high gear please and keep it there for the rest of the grading period.
3. Reminder that we are officially through the entire Write Traits workbook and that we are moving on to better and bigger things :) Get your minds, paper, and writing utensils ready!
4. Update- the grading term extra credit project will be posted on November 17th and will be due prior to everyone leaving for Winter Break.
5. Reminder/Update- all the homework assignments for this quarter are updated below.

Unit 2 Vocab/Spelling Review test and Test Dates

Unit 2 Vocab/Spelling Review test- October 28th
Unit 2 Vocab/Spelling Test- November 1st

Change to October 22nd's homework

There was a change made to October 22nd's homework. It is not only the handout pages 31-32, but also the writing of the 5 words that each individual student feels that they will have trouble remember spelling 20x each. This additional assignment is worth 40pts. and should be recorded onto the class grade sheet.

New Quarter

Hello everyone and welcome to the 2nd quarter. Just a quick update as far what we'll be covering this grading period. We'll be wrapping up our writing review and begin working more with paragraphs and essays. Our vocabulary/spelling unit will continue throughout the year. We'll be incorporating a few short stories and at least one historical nonfiction to use as a basis for our writing prompts.

Students- if you did not end up with the grade that you wanted then I would encourage you to think back about the frequency in which you turned in your work and how complete if was when you did turn it in. Take a moment and be honest with yourself about where the responsibility falls for your grades. Your parents and teachers can only do so much to encourage you, but you have to take the steps to do better.

Parents- if you have any concerns about your student's performance please feel free to email/call the school/send a note and I will get back with you as quickly as possible.

Vocabulary Test Dates

Morning everyone! There will be two vocabulary tests per unit- one a practice and the other a final. If you (the student) get an A on the practice you have the option of not taking the final test for that unit. You may choose to retake the test for a higher score if you would like. For those of you that will take the test twice, the higher of the two test scores will be the score recorded into the gradebook.

I hope that this sets those of you with test anxiety a little at ease since you have multiple chances here to do well. Please, please, please remember that the test is not only over being able to use the vocabulary word correctly, but to also spell it.

EXTRA CREDIT FOR FIRST GRADING PERIOD

Extra Credit Option:
Due: September 30, 2010
What: Write a compare and contrast essay between a movie and the novel it was based upon. The movie/novel must be school appropriate (G or PG rating).
Points: 100

Essay Format: 5-paragraph minimum, typed, 12pt Times New Roman font, standard margins

Have you ever wanted to be in the funny papers?

Well here's your chance to be in the funny papers- check out this website and create your own comic strip!This site is great for students who hate to write long drawn out pages of storylines, but need to demonstrate that they know what they are doing with punctuation, capitalization, spelling, mood, symbolism, and other fun language arts terms.http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/

First Round of NWEA is Over!!

The first round of NWEA testing is over...wooohoooo!!!! The students did a great job with taking their time and doing the best that they could without too much bribing or threatening from this language arts teacher ;) I'm looking forward to conferencing with each student on how they did and what goals they want to set for the winter round of testing.

Midterm reports will be going out this week, so please be looking for them in the mail. Have a great Labor Day; be safe and enjoy the time off.

Tests coming up next week :)

7th graders have NWEA Language Arts testing next Tuesday- be prepared to try your best. That's all I ask of you :) And on Thursday, September 2 they have a Suffix and Prefix Test; so hopefully you students are using your 'study-tellers' to study.

Have a great and safe weekend!!!

Grades :)

For any parents out there :)

Since I'm not sure how many parents have been able to get into PowerSchool since it seems to continually go up and down, so I am writing grades for 7th grade Language Arts into the students' agendas. I sent home parent letters last week and very few of them came back so hopefully this will help. If you have any questions concerning your student's grade please email me and I will respond as quickly as possible.

As always, thank you for your time and have a great day :)

Ms. Wright

My 8th grade Homeroom's Nickname

Alright, I want to say right here and now that I had nothing to do with this vote. Let me present to you "The Hungry Happy Hippos" or otherwise known as H(cubed).

Heads up about Parent Letter

I'm starting to see a few holes in my gradebook where assignments are not being turned in. And since it is way too early in the year and the assignments are extremely easy right now; no one should have anything less than an A. Letters are going home Tuesday, August 17th to let parents know where their child sits gradewise in their Language Arts class. So those of you students that have not been keeping up with these simple assignments are running out of time before the letters go home and I start assigning academic detentions :)

Fun Videos to Check Out

Here are some fabulous videos that help teach lessons and that are fun for one and all to watch! Enjoy :)
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/animals/fish_or_not/#12491
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/Cement_Man/
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/commercials/Bird_And_Car/#857
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/science_technology/Penguin_Stress/#40535